Indicators

Related links

Share

On-line version ISSN 1678-4464Print version ISSN 0102-311X

Cad. Saúde Pública vol.23 n.2 Rio de Janeiro Feb. 2007

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2007000200001

EDITORIAL

Evaluation of
graduate studies in public health in Brazil

The field of graduate
studies in public health is currently undergoing a phase of both consolidation
and expansion in Brazil. According to data from 2005 recently compiled by CAPES
(the National Coordinating Body for Graduate Training) and analyzed by its Evaluation
Committee for Public Health, Brazil now has 34 programs, offering at total of
7 so-called professional Master's courses (for in-service health professionals),
27 academic Master's, and 11 PhD courses. In late 2005 there were 1,880 graduate
students enrolled in public health (1,137 academic Master's students and 743
PhD students), while 554 Master's and 192 PhD students received their degrees
that year. In 2006, 3 new programs began their course activities and 6 more
received their initial accreditation.

Brazil is experiencing important trends in graduate studies in
public health. A growing number of courses have been created in
private schools and universities. Such scenarios are part of the
overall expansion of higher learning in Brazil, which has gained
specific momentum in public health. The Evaluation Committee has
been monitoring these developments in order to ensure that the
newly accredited courses have the quality and capacity for their
advancement and consolidation. The new proposals for so-called
professional Master's courses have been evaluated with special
care due to the frequent lack of understanding of their role,
i.e., to provide high-level training for non-academic
professionals in groups working in the course's area, as well as
scientific output compatible with the requirements of an academic
Master's course.

Another recurrent and fundamental challenge for graduate
studies in public health is to supply training in regions of
Brazil where it is still lacking. The expansion of graduate
studies to include these regions is a challenge not only for
public health, but also for numerous other fields in the
Brazilian science and technology system, as evidenced in the
National Graduate Studies Plan for 2005-2010.

The combination of social relevance and scientific excellence
has provided the underpinnings for reflections on research output
in public health. The evaluation shows not only that the field's
scientific output has enjoyed an upward trend, but also that
various programs are making a clear effort at
internationalization. Much progress is still needed, but the fact
is that the issue occupies a central place in faculty concerns
and institutional life.

On this same issue of scientific output, recent years have
witnessed the maturation of the so-called
Qualis-Periódicos project. In the field of public
health in particular, there is a pressing need to further the
discussion on parameters for evaluating output in the form of
books and book chapters. In partnership with the Forum of
Graduate Studies Program Coordinators in Public Health,
representatives from the field have sought to define criteria for
evaluating this kind of output. This effort has also occurred in
other areas within the scope of CAPES, and a discussion on this
issue by the interested fields is expected to take place soon, in
order to reach definitions for the next triennial evaluation.

The coming year, 2007, is special for the graduate studies
evaluation system conducted by CAPES, because the 2004-2006
triennial performance of hundreds of graduate studies programs
will be evaluated (with scores). Our expectation is that the
evaluation will specifically confirm the successful history of
graduate studies in public health in Brazil.